Of Memories and Late Night Conversations
by S-Blake
Summary: Troy and Sharpay have a talk after the gradution party. "...the only thing that kept him from thinking it hadn't all been a dream were the two pieces of pink ribbon tied to the rock Sharpay had been sitting on..."


A sigh escaped his lips as he finally managed to distrangle himself from the large partying crowd. It was already 2:30 a.m. and, apart from the ones that had passed out, there didn't seem to be many people inclined to leave anytime soon, his parents had even left to sleep in a hotel because of the amazingly loud noise, he was almost starting to wonder whether his neighbors had some kind of problem for not having complained yet.

Troy shook his head tiredly as he watched yet another person pass out dangerously close to their own puke just a couple feet away from him. Shving his hands in his pockets, he started to walk towards the furthest part of the garden, now only iluminated by the moonlight, all the while hoping it hadn't been invaded yet.

'Thank God', he thought as he neared the, beautifully empty, small pond and sat down on a rock, a nearly invisible smile on his face.

"I thought you didn't come here anymore", a voice emanated from the shadows at his side.

Watching the reflection of the moon play on the surface of the water, he failed to see the, barely noticeable, pink boot at the edge of the water, only a thin streak of light indicating its position.

The girl laughed lightly as he jumped, startledly looking around himself in search for her.

Troy felt a breath of relief leave his body as his eyes finally managed to recognize Sharpay's petite frame among the shadows.

"You shouldn't scare me like that", he breathed, looking back ahead.

"Sorry", Sharpay said, traces of the laugh still left in her voice, "So, when did you start coming here again?"

He was silent for a while, memories of long-gone times resurfacing from a dark corner of his head, "I like to come here to think", the final tone in his voice left her no space to ask any further.

After what seemed to be very long minutes, during which the only sound heard was the sound from the party, Sharpay startled slightly at hearing Troy's voice,

"I'm sorry you didn't get the Juilliard scholarship", he paused, allowing her to comprehend his words, "I know how much you wanted it"

The blonde closed her eyes and swallowed, a sad smile appeared on her face and she thanked God for the darkness surrounding them, "Thanks, but there's no use being sorry about it now", she then said, in a voice she knew was too chipper for Troy to believe.

And she wasn't wrong, he frowned slightly at her cover up and then berated himself for being the one to cause it, "Well, at least you get to be with Chad", he attempted a couple seconds later.

Sharpay couldn't help but chuckle sacastically at that, "You're saying that as if it's actually a good thing", she said in the same tone.

Troy smiled thriumphantly and felt something warm inside his chest, something he hadn't felt in a very long time, "And Jimmie too", he proceed to say, her instant glare doing nothing to erase the smile from his face.

"Can we not talk about that?" She asked, agitation clearly evident in her voice, as she turned to face him.

The moon chose that moment to cast its light over them, and it was impossible for her not to see the mischievous, child-like glint in his eyes, which now appeared to be of an almost silvery color, as he amused himself with her.

Even in the dim light of the moon shining over them, Troy didn't miss the change in her eyes and expression, however small the latter ones were, as she turned to face him and saw something else.

"What?" He questioned moments later, when she didn't say anything.

Sharpay closed her mouth, which had dropped open for a fraction, and shook her head, blinked too, as if trying to clear her head and stood up, catching him off guard.

"I'm getting tired, I should go home", she said, voice trembling as she started to walk away, hoping Troy hadn't seen enough to notice the turmoil of emotions that had suddenly rushed back into her heart, as if the dam keeping them at bay had completely fell down out of nowhere.

"Hey, wait", he said as he quickly stood up and grabbed her wrist, keeping her in place, "What happened? Did I do something?"

"No, no, you didn't do anything", Sharpay rushed to deny, turning around to look up at him, or his general direction, he noticed, "It's just me, I really am tired, please let me go, Troy"

She still wasn't looking directly at him, and the sound of his name coming from her lips had never sounded so foreign to him, he felt a pull on his heart strings, "Sharpay, look at me"

He watched her head turn towards the lake and her eyes close swiftly, then pulled her body towards his and squeezed her shoulders forcefully, Troy lowered his head to face hers and repeated his previous request, twice, three times, until she finally turned her head and revealed her chocolate orbs.

His grip wavered slightly when he saw the, now unfamiliar, raw emotion on them, flashes of a forgotten past, one where he had sat on that exact same spot they stood now and shared his first kiss with a small blonde girl who wore pigtails, started to blink in front of his eyes, and somehow forced him to release her.

When he snapped out of his daze, while normally his first instict would have been to apologize for she was rubbing her shoulders where he had grabbed them, an even darker corner of his brain managed to push itself beneath a light by associating that old memory of the small girl with the one standing in front of him. And it couldn't be just a coincidence what it showed him.

"I'm sorry" she heard him murmur as she opened her eyes and saw his foot take a step forward, another one, this time with the other foot, and another, and another, until he was standing in front of her, then watched his hand raise towards the underside of her chin and allowed him to lift her face up.

"What for?" Sharpay asked as she watched him watching her lips move in a painfully familiar fashion, for both.

"I forgot" he said, lifting his thumb to trace her bottom lip.

He leaned down and captured it with both of his, biting his own finger in the process, and forcing her other question to die on her throat.

Back in the front garden, Chad could've sworn he saw the moon smile as his eyes drifted close and he slipped into a dreamless sleep.

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When Troy woke up, the only thing that kept him from thinking it hadn't all been a dream were the two pieces of pink ribbon tied to the rock Sharpay had been sitting on when they started to talk.


End file.
